The Whisperings of Two Hearts/A Takari Psychosis
by wolfsoul
Summary: Takari. Tk and Kari are too shy to admit their feelings for one another... that is, until they started listening to those little voices in their heads. 2.TK and Kari talk with confidants...
1. Default Chapter

**The Whisperings of Two Hearts**

_or_****

**A Takari Psychosis**

****

Attention: I _do_ own Digimon! Go ahead! Just try and sue me! I'll have it tied up in courts for years and you'll never see a dime! Then I'll countersue! Mwahahahahahahaha!!!! ~) 

Please enjoy reading this...or not... It matters not a whit to me, but my alter ego, since it is his work, would greatly appreciate any feedback you might have, good or bad. As a favor to me, send multiple flames! Flame him good! Mwhahaha!

By the way, I'm the evil one. (If you had any trouble telling)

_'I care for you too much to give you up without a fight!'_

Those words had sent a shock all throughout her being. Could he mean that...? She had felt her heart skip a beat as it took off in a wild racers pace.

But then he had run off, leaving her once again alone.

Alone and feeling confused as well as afraid of the situation she was suddenly finding herself in. Could she count on anyone at all to be able to help her deal with her feelings of dread and terror? 

Then, as she found herself in the Digital World, without her guardian Gatomon or her D-3, he flew to her aid in her time of need, riding aback Pegasusmon like some hero-knight out of a fantasy novel, just in time to save the day.

Afterwards, when she had questioned him about what he had meant, he acted somewhat embarrassed and at a loss as how to respond. _'You know, just stuff'_ he'd said. But she didn't know.

She wanted to. Kari sighed quietly as she continued to listen to her algebra teacher drone on. She wanted to know what he really thought of her. The way he'd been acting lately, though, wasn't leaving her much in the way of evidence. She looked over at his desk, briefly watching him take notes, his face a study of concentration. Did he know how she felt about him?

Did _she_ know how she felt about him?

Kari's gaze returned forward wanting nothing more than to banish such problematic thinking from her mind, but thoughts of TK and relationships persisted in creeping back, ruining her concentration and working to further her already considerable confusion. Algebra didn't stand a ghost of a chance amongst the turbulent storm that her emotions had become.

Why did he cause her to feel those warm fuzzy sensations stir every time she thought about him? Why was she possessed of the urge to spend spare moments on his facial nuances or how his eyes seemed to twinkle with an inner light all their own? What could the reasoning for the way he made her feel happier when he smiled that special smile he only seemed to do for her alone, the one that made her heart race so fast it made her dizzy, possibly be?

Was it. . .love? Did she love TK? She'd never really even had a crush on a boy before, and now suddenly she was in love with TK? That didn't make any sense... but as she thought about it, Kari realized that feelings for her old friend had been building for a long while. He'd always been there for her when she needed him. He was always looking out for her, but never trying to get in the way of her personal growth. He'd done all the things that one would think a good friend was supposed to do.

Was it more than that, though? Was it more than simple friendship that existed between the two of them? Kari looked deep within herself and found that she desperately wanted the answer to be '_yes_'. 

Kari absently chewed the eraser end of her pencil. She had to find out how he felt towards her, but lately, it seemed as if TK was trying to avoid her.

* * * * *

TK struggled furiously to finish the problem he'd been working on for the past ten minutes, but thoughts of a particular girl sitting two rows parallel to his right continued to interfere with his concentration.

_'Kari...'_ he sighed mentally, giving up at accomplishing any meaningful work this period. How could he possibly concentrate on algebraic equation when _she_ was a mere paper airplane toss away from him? Try as he might, he couldn't seem to be able to get her out of his mind ever since the dreams had started a few weeks ago.

TK had never really paid attention to his dreams before. For him, reality had proven strange enough as it was. He'd seen a different dimension, made friends with a flying pig, and battled monsters far worse than any nightmare could likely conjure. His mind had no real need to create the fantastic during sleep, it got more than its fair share while awake, leaving TK's nights rather uneventful.

A few weeks ago, something happened to liven them up. He awoke during the morning's earliest hours, finding himself twisted up in his bed sheets, his whole body feeling too warm as if from a laborious exertion, his heart beating heavily in his chest. Though he tried to recall what had sent him into such a state, he found he remember nothing of what had transpired during the time he was asleep.

A few nights later it happened once again. TK awoke in the middle of the night, his body feeling much the same it did the night before, uncomfortably warm and damp with sweat. This time, though, he found himself able to recall fragments of the dream. These pieces all shared one unifying trait: They all involved Kari Tamiyia. They were images mainly: her smiling face, the look of those two large brown eyes of hers, and more things of such ilk. Certainly, nothing of the sort that would cause him to wake up in such a condition as he had. That notion led TK to ponder over the question what in the dream _had_ done this to him. 

The next night, the incident occurred once again. He still could only remember disjointed fragments of the dream, but now they were far more vivid. Detail, though was not the only thing that was different: their was a drastic change content. He found himself remembering the sensation of holding Kari's slight hand in his own, the texture of her lips touching his, the delightful feeling of the two of them lying in an embrace amongst a grassy field somewhere unknown to him; all as real to him as if it had really happened.

Dreams had woke him every night since then, and still he could not remember much more than fragments of them. Each night had involved Kari. As the fragments became even more vivid, they also became saturated with feelings of warmth, joy, and something TK wasn't quite comfortable putting a name to. 

TK was unsure of what to really think of all of this, but he realized it made him a might bit uncomfortable. He'd never even kissed a girl before and now, suddenly, he was dreaming of it on a nightly basis. Not to mention it was with his best friend. Where in blazes did this come from all of a sudden? Out of the blue, he suddenly was dreaming of a romantic relationship with Kari?

_That isn't the truth, TK_, chimed a voice deep within his psyche. He risked a glance in Kari's direction, just missing her head turning away from her own contemplation of him. He'd felt something for Kari for as long as he could remember, something he didn't really know how to describe or really wanted to for that matter. "Just friends" was just fine with him; why screw up a good thing? 

He'd almost had, when the scubamon were trying to pull her into the digital world. In a moment of rash impulsiveness he'd revealed his true heart to her. When he realized what he'd said to her, he'd fled the scene, much to his later regret. Because of his emotions, Kari had been kidnaped into the digital world and placed in grave danger. Long ago, he'd vowed to protect Kari, during the battle with Piedmon. Even through all these years, he never had really relinquished that oath and thus blamed himself for her disappearance. 

Just what did he feel for Kari, anyway? He pondered this as he watched Kari chew on her pencil's eraser, something he'd noticed she always did when she was thinking hard about something. 

From his experience, love wasn't all that great a thing. His Mom and Dad had been in love at one time, but now they couldn't stand to be within sight of one another without starting another argument. Was that what eventually happens to two people who fall in love? TK didn't even want to think about that large of a rift getting between him and Kari.

He tore his eyes away from her, hoping no one had noticed him staring. If that was love, TK could live without it. He couldn't bear to think of Kari hating him. 

_'What a big mess...'_ he thought to himself. The bell rang, heralding both the end of class and the end of school for the day. 

...But for TK, the bell signaled that his troubles were only just beginning.

* * * * *Kari decided that the best way to get someone who's been avoiding you to stop doing such was to corner them and leave them no avenue for escape. It might not have been the best solution to her current problem, but it was the only feasible one that she came up with by the time the class bell had rang. Quickly gathering her belongings, she set about putting her plan into action.

* * * * *

TK had only just began to gather his belongings when he heard a familiar voice beside him.

"Hi TK..."

It was her. Kari. "Hi Kari..." he replied, smiling. Despite the problems he was having, her mere presence seemed to make things brighter. 

"I'm supposed to get Yolie's homework for her since she's sick." Kari explained, "Would you walk with me to her place?"

"Sure." TK responded on reflex. He could never deny a request from her.

Kari smiled at him. "Great! I'll see you by the school gate in a few minutes?"

"I'll be there" TK replied. 

_I'll be always be there_ he added mentally. He watched as she left, then shook his head ruefully. No matter how real his dreams might seem, the dream Kari couldn't even hold a candle to the real thing. Sighing, TK gathered his things, then made his way to their arranged meeting place.

As might have been expected, he arrived before Kari did, which left with some time to burn. For lack of anything better to do, he spent some spare moments admiring the fall colors of the sakura trees that were scattered across the school's campus.

'_The leaves change and fall away,_' TK mused to himself, '_Yet the tree, for the most part, remains unchanged by this. They change often on the outside and yet they remain the same in a basic sense._'

"Hi TK!" a female voice jarred him from his ponderings. Removing his attention from the trees_,_ he saw that it was Keiko, a girl from his class. A very popular girl and considered by many to be one of the prettiest as well.

"Hello Keiko," TK greeted her cordially. He and Keiko chatted occasionally, but their relationship was nothing more than that of casual classmates.

"What are you still doing here?" Keiko asked, striking up a conversation. "It's the weekend!"

"I'm waiting for Kari," TK explained, "She went to pick up a sick friend's homework."

"Oh..." Keiko responded. "Um, TK, I've been meaning to ask you a question. . . I mean if you don't mind me asking or anything."

"Go ahead Keiko, ask away." TK replied.

"Are you and Kari an item?" she asked, all hint of her earlier hesitancy gone.

"A-an i-item?" TK stammered, startled by her question. "N-n-no we're n-not an i-item. We're just good friends. What makes you ask?"

Keiko smiled impishly. "Oh, no reason. . . I'll see you on Monday TK!" With that Keiko left the scene, vanishing as suddenly as she had appeared.

Now TK felt even more confused than before. '_What the heck just happened here?_'

"Oh well..." he sighed quietly to himself. '_Is that really Kari is to me? A good friend?_' He asked himself this as he went back to his earlier contemplation of the sakura trees.

'_Yes._' a part of him responded.

'_No._' replied another part of him at the same time as the first.

"Ready TK?"

'_Ready for what? What should I be ready for?_' he asked the conflicting voices within his soul.

"Hey TK!" something shouted.

"Huh?" TK mumbled, suddenly realizing that his internal conversation wasn't the only one that was taking place.

"You okay, TK?" Kari asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah... I'm fine." TK replied, coming of the trance like state he'd been in. "I was thinking, that's all. You know, off in my own little world... You get Yolie's homework?"

Kari nodded. "Yeah. Shall we go?"

"Yes, lets." TK laughed.

* * * * *

They walked in silence for a long while. '_So far, so good_.' Kari thought to herself. '_Now for phase two._'

But she really hadn't planned as far as 'phase two'. She'd barely planned for a way to get TK to stop avoiding her.

'_Come on Kari!_' a voice within her chided. '_Keep your eyes on the goal. The rest of the details will work themselves out!_'

Goal? What was her goal?

'_Finding out what TK feels towards you!_' the voice within her exclaimed, sounding a bit exasperated. '_Remember?_'

Oh, yeah. That _was_ the reason she had asked TK to walk her in the first place.

"TK... she started, finding her courage fleeing as soon as she opened her mouth. '_Steady, Kari!_' something within her encouraged. '_Just keep talking!_' 

"Yeah?" TK responded.

"Have you noticed how everyone seems to be pairing off lately?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" TK asked, sounding a bit puzzled.

"You know... boys and girls becoming couples... that sort of thing." Kari replied.

TK thought about it a moment. "Now that you mention it, yeah, I guess that sort of thing has been happening a lot lately. I guess I never really thought about it a whole lot before. What about it?"

"I've been wondering as to _why_ its been happening all of a sudden." Kari said, examining the ground beneath her feet.

"I dunno," TK replied quietly. "Maybe it isn't really happening all of a sudden. Maybe it's been happening before now, building up, but we just never noticed it until just recently.'

Kari's heart started pounding so heavily that it resounded in her ears, as if attempting to drown out all other sounds. '_Could he... Should I... But what if..._' Questions crowded her mind, plunging her into chaotic disarray. She wanted to say more, so much more, but her mouth refused to utter the words her soul longed to say. Silence blossomed.

"I think you're right about that." Kari managed to say after a while. She looked up from the ground and over at TK just as he was in the act of looking over at her. Their eyes met and time seemed to grind to a halt. Kari's head swam as her knees felt as if they were turning to jelly. She felt as if her soul had taken leave of her body to swim in those sapphire blue pools that were TK's eyes...

Suddenly, the moment ended almost as spontaneously as it had begun. Both of them broke eye contact, each secretly fighting a blush. Taut silence sprouted once again, making the two digidestined feel rather awkward and uncomfortable. 

'_What happens next?_' Kari wondered, unable to look up from her close examination of the concrete.

As you might have expected, the answer to the question was nothing other than this: TK fell for her.* * * * *

'_Things had been going so well, too..._' TK bemoaned mentally as he walked in silence beside Kari. They were having a normal conversation and then their eyes had met. Their eyes met and every dream fragment TK had remembered from the past month came flashing to the forefront of his thoughts.

'_No!! She's your best friend! You can't have these feelings about her!_' screamed one of the voices that resided in the depths of TK's soul. '_It just isn't right!_'

But he did have feelings for her that way... didn't he? 

'_Yes. You know that you do, TK.' _said the other voice inside him. '_You should really know better than to lie to yourself_.'

'_But she's you're best friend! Do you want to lose that?_' the first voice shouted. '_You know exactly what will happen if you move on these feelings. Nothing good will come of this!_'

TK did not need to be reminded of the very real possibility of losing Kari's friendship if he did end up revealing his feelings. He didn't want that to happen. Ever.

Lying to himself was a small price to pay.

Being so preoccupied with all this, TK didn't even notice the curb. Curbs do not like being ignored, and are quite vengeful for inanimate objects. This particular curb was not very different from its brethren, and sent TK, who had not expected the sudden change in elevation, careening to the pavement. 

...And that's about when everything went dark.

* * * * *

Kari had been so engrossed in her continued examination of the concrete passing beneath her feet that she had almost missed TK's headlong dive into the street. Almost, but not quite.

TK didn't even throw his hands out to stop himself and ended up landing flat on his face.

"TK?" Kari asked. _Perhaps he had done it on purpose? No, that might have been something Davis might have done, but not TK._

TK did not respond. '_What if he's hurt?_' she wondered. The icy snake of panic began to crawl around her insides as she rushed to where TK lay on the ground. '_Please, oh please, pleeease be alright, TK!_'

"TK?! Are you all right, TK?" she asked as she knelt down next to him. She rolled him over on to his back. '_Well, he looks alright..._' For someone who'd just fallen flat on his face, TK barely had a scratch on him, but his eyes were closed.

"Hey TK, come on! Wake up!"

* * * * *

_Wake up!_

Kari's voice pierced the fabric of nothingness that TK's reality had become. Grudgingly, he stirred to consciousness as ordered. 

He opened his eyes to see Kari kneeling over him, concern clearly written on her angelic face.

"Are you all right, TK?" she asked him immediately.

'_Real smooth, TK..._' He chided himself. '_Only_ you _could manage_ that _trip_.'

"TK?"

"I think I'll live." he responded, getting himself up. '_If I don't die of embarrassment, that is..._' he added mentally.

"What happened?" Kari asked, proffering a hand to help him up.

He accepted her hand and pulled himself to his feet. "I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going..." he said in response to her question. "You know me... always daydreaming too much."

Kari said nothing, only looking at him. "You sure you're all right, TK?" she said after a few moments.

TK smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "I'm fine. Don't worry. We better get moving, though. Yolie is probably going stir crazy as we speak."

Kari smiled at the jest and agreed. All tension that had existed before the fall was now gone, the quick trip having caused a sudden climax and an equally spontaneous crash back to normal interaction. 

Their ordeal was _far_ from over, however...

* * * * *

The rest of the trip passed without much incident. They talked about school, complained about teachers, griped about homework, and had what stands as a pretty normal conversation for people their age. Before they knew it, they were in front of the door to Yolie's apartment.

"Well, uh, I'll see you around, uh, Kari." TK said, feeling awkward.

Kari only nodded, not knowing what to say. She didn't want their time together to be over yet, but saw no way to extend it without acting unnatural. 

"Well, uh, bye." TK said, then turned and left.

Kari sighed. She'd gone through all that emotional turmoil and still hadn't gotten any closer to discovering how TK truly felt about her. She hadn't really had a chance to, though. TK's fall had really "tripped up" the direction of their conversation. Kari found that she couldn't come with a reasonable way to turn the subject back to relationships, and thus was unable to uncover what she yearned to know.

'_Brooding over this doesn't help it Kari,_' something within her stated firmly as Kari knocked on the door to Yolie's residence. '_You'll get another chance._'

The door flung open after the third knock, revealing a purple haired girl who at the moment had a wild look in her eyes that somewhat frightened Kari.

"Uh, hi Yol-" Kari began.

She never finished. "KARI!" Yolie squealed, sounding delighted. "You remembered my homework, didn't you? Come in! I've been cooped up to long, I thought I was going to go crazy." Yolie grabbed Kari by the arm and dragged her into the apartment.

Yolie had come down with a case of the chicken pox (she had never had them before) about a week and a half ago, keeping her from school. She was well enough now to be up and about, but still had to remain home from school and the digital world. Now, imagine someone as hyperactive as Yolie usually is, and then imagine forcing them to stay in a bed for a week. Scary to think of what that person would be like, huh?

Kari was finding out first hand how frightening such a scenario could truly be. Yolie was ravenous for news and gossip from school, determined to wring Kari for every detail she possibly could. Kari, fearing what response resistance might elicit, complied readily. Yolie calmed down after about fifteen minutes, putting Kari's fears of a Yolie (@LastNAME@)-style spaz attack.

Despite her many faults, Yolie can be a very sensitive girl at times, and while she and Kari were chatting, she noticed that something about Kari was not quite the same as normal. She couldn't her finger on it exactly, just that something about her friend was, well, _off_ somehow. '_There's only one way to be sure..._' Yolie told herself.

"Kari, you okay? I mean, it's just you seem a little troubled or something. You got something on your mind?"

Kari was shocked. '_Is it _that_ obvious?_' she wondered.

"C'mon girlfriend, you can tell _me_. You know I can keep a secret. Besides, telling someone might make you feel better."

Kari was met again with indecision, torn between revealing her feelings or keeping them a secret. After an eternity of thirty seconds, she found that she _needed_ to tell someone about this before she went crazy. "Well, um, it's sorta about TK."

Yolie said nothing, but her expression encouraged Kari to continue. "I've known him for a long time, and we've always been friends, but lately..." Kari faltered. Saying it out loud was turning out to be much harder than she had anticipated.

Yolie still remained silent, her face wordlessly urging Kari to continue. Kari inhaled deeply and forged ahead once more. "...But lately, I've been wondering if that's all our relationship is exactly."

"In other words, you like him, and want to know if he feels similarly." Yolie said, finally breaking her silence.

Kari nodded. "Something like that. Yeah."

"I **knew** it!" Yolie suddenly burst out, causing Kari to jump imperceptibly from surprise. "You two are just soooo perfect for each other!"

Kari winced inwardly. Telling Yolie was looking more and more like it had been a mistake, one she was going to truly regret. Yolie noticed Kari's reaction to her spontaneous outburst, and decided to make her next move a bit more toned down. "You haven't asked him how he feels yet." It was more of a statement than a question.

Kari's eyes became downcast as she released a sigh. "No," she said as she shook her had sadly, "Not exactly. I've started to, but I haven't made much in the way of progress."

"Hmm..." Yolie hmmed thoughtfully, causing Kari to bring her eyes back to their normal position. The look on her friend's face started to worry Kari some. It looked as if Yolie was plotting something.

To her credit, Yolie wasn't actually plotting some scheme. Not yet, anyway. Yolie was merely assessing her friends' situations. She counted both Kari and TK as good friends, and thought that they would be very happy together as a couple... but she felt it wasn't her place to stick her nose in, at least for the time being. Yolie concluded that the best she could do for Kari was give her friendly advice and encouragement. "It sounds like you're on the right track, Kari," Yolie said, "But TK isn't the type to open up easily, at least from what I've noticed anyway. It seems like he was hurt deeply by something, and became withdrawn somewhat in an emotional sense."

"Now that you mention it, TK has been acting kind of strange lately..."Kari said reflectively.

Yolie shook her head. "I don't think it was anything recent. In all likelihood it was something a long time ago, something TK doesn't even consciously remember." Yolie then shrugged, "But, of course, I could very possibly be wrong."

Kari mulled over what Yolie had said, and concluded that it did make a good deal of sense. With that judgment came the realization that achieving her heart's desire was going to be an even more challenging task than she had originally had thought.

"Don't worry Kari," Yolie said, noticing her friend looking increasingly depressed, "If anyone can break through his emotional barriers, it's you. You two were _meant_ to be together."

Kari looked to her friend, her face full of gratitude. "Thanks, Yolie."

Yolie smiled warmly. "Hey, what are friends for?"

  
  


Please excuse me for my introduction. I'm afraid one of the other personalities who I time share this physical body with decided to add his two cents in. Guess he got jealous, but it can't be helped 

Let me clear up the matter of ownership. I own nothing, not even the body I "borrowed" in order to write this story. I most certainly do not own any rights to Digimon. 

This work was the collaboration of various personalities housed within the mind of a "disturbed" young man of the age 18. If it may seem disjointed at times, well, that's because it was someone else writing it. All of us would appreciate any feed back you might have to give us, even if contents are highly combustible. Puck (the one whom introduced the fic, at least the rest of "us" think it was him) will especially enjoy ones of that particular type.

I hope you found this reading to be pleasant, and have a nice day.


	2. conversations

Puck won't be appearing _(yes I will)_ in this chapter _(you can't keep me locked up forever!)_.

We don't own Digimon, and well, after that final episode, we're not sure why anyone would want to. It was a real let-down. Just Puck's style... Sometimes you gotta wonder if he moonlights in other writers' bodies at times... oh well...

And now, for some more of the same, or something completely different:

  
  


**The Whisperings of Two Hearts**

_or,_

_(as **I** like to call it,_**)**

**A Takari Psychosis **

Part Two

  
  
  
  


TK slumped onto his bed, seeking solace from his troubled existence in the form of a late afternoon nap. Sleep evaded him, however, and all he found he could do was toss restlessly in bed. _Damn this!_ he thought as he growled in frustration at the futility of his efforts. 

"What's wrong TK?" A familiar voice asked.

TK opened his eyes to see Patomon hovering above him, his digimon eyes filled with concern for his human friend. TK sighed and sat up as Patomon landed on the end of the bed.

"Well..." TK started, "I've been having these dreams lately..."

"Nightmares?" Patomon asked, trying to encourage TK to go into more detail.

"Not really... at least I don't think so." Seeing that Patomon didn't quite understand, TK continued. "You see, I've only been able to remember bits and pieces of them. The parts that I have been able to remember weren't unpleasant at all."

"Then why are you so upset by them?" Patomon asked, sounding more than a bit confused by his human friend's odd behavior.

"Well, the dreams were of Kari. And me. Together. Kissing . . . and stuff"

The digimon blinked. "So?"

"**So?!?** I've known Kari for years! She's one of my closest friends!! I'm _not_ supposed to think of my best friend like that!"

Patomon shook his head, confusion evident in his eyes. "I still don't get it, TK. Why are you not supposed to think of Kari like that?"

"Because..." TK began, readying himself to explain to his digimon the nuances of the human world that were commonly taken for granted by him but completely alien to digital beings, however he suddenly found that he really couldn't easily justify a reason. "Well because... well, its really complicated."

"Tell me anyway." Patomon said, trapping TK. "You know I'm always interested in learning about your world." 

TK desperately struggled to find some way to put into words how wrong such feelings for Kari were. No answers were forthcoming, no matter how hard he tried to think.

"Is there some sort of law against it?" Patomon asked, trying to pull his partner from the silent state he'd slipped into.

"No, there's no law against, per say... It's just... well, She's my friend... and I don't want to lose that."

"Oh!" Patomon exclaimed, flashes of comprehension sparking in his soulful eyes. "I get it! You mean that Kari won't be your friend if she finds out you feel this way about her! But..." Patomon's countenance grew to one of confusion again. "You've known each other for so long... I don't see why she'd suddenly stop being your friend just because your feelings towards her have changed a little."

"She might not feel the same way towards me..." TK said, trying to explain.

"What makes you think that, TK?" Patomon asked.

"Well, er... I don't know." TK replied "I hadn't really thought about that possibility, to be completely honest with you."

"You haven't?" Patomon asked, surprised. Normally, TK was not one to miss such an obvious possibility like that. "Why not?"

TK sheepishly scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Well... uh... I guess the idea just never occurred to me." He sighed thoughtfully as he reclined back on his bed. "Is it worth finding out, though?"

"That's up to you to decide, TK." Patomon said sagely, "Remember though, dreams can often be a glimpse of your own soul. These ones you've been having lately could be trying to tell you something."

"But what?" TK wondered aloud.

* * * * *

Kari left Yolie's apartment in high spirits. Yolie had been right, it _did_ help to share your problems with someone else. 

As she made the trip back to her own apartment building, she pondered over what could have possibly hurt TK so much that it made him become as emotionally inhibited as he was. She knew he was a very sensitive boy, no matter how hard he tried to hide it sometimes. He also often took things upon himself that weren't necessarily his responsibility or his fault. She knew from talking with Yolie that he had blamed himself for the incident in which she had disappeared into the digital realm, though there wasn't really anything he could have done to prevent it from happening eventually. 

"How do you break through an emotional barrier?" She asked herself aloud. Kari knew that if she found the answer to this, she'd have found a way to assess how TK really felt about her. As of thus far, though, the riddle had her completely stumped.

She puzzled over it the rest of the way home, but got no closer to the answer she sought. She barely heard her mother's greeting as she kicked off her shoes and closed the door to the apartment, being to wrapped up in thought to pay attention to anything else. She mumbled a response and headed to her room.

She collapsed on her bed and proceeded to stare up at the ceiling.

Little did she realize that she was being stalked by one of the world's most renowned predators...

Sensing its prey obviously unaware as to its coming fate, the predator fell to a crouch, readying to pounce on its victim's soft underbelly.

"Still playing 'jungle cat', Gatomon?" Kari said.

The predator had just began uncoiling its muscles to pounce upon its hapless target when the said target acknowledged her. Needless to say, it threw her badly off balance, causing her to crash clumsily onto Kari's torso.

"No fair!" Gatomon complained, feeling her hunter's pride had been wounded."You cheated somehow!"

"Silly." Kari said as she began to rub beneath the digital feline's chin. "I can always tell when you're near. Remember?"

Gatomon purred blissfully from Kari's attentions. "I'll get you one day, Kari."

Kari smiled, feeling the warmth of this routine conversation replace the feelings of trouble and worry she had been experiencing on her journey home. "I'm sure you will, Gatomon, but not today."

"Kari," she heard her mother call, "Dinner time!"

Once she was at the table, Kari began eating mechanically, not really paying attention to what was on her plate or the conversation the rest of her family was involved with. She was so lost in thought that she failed to hear her mother say her name the first two times.

"Kari, honey," Mrs. Kayima said, trying for the third time to reach whatever planet her daughter's mind had gone off to, "Is there anything wrong dear? You usually love my cooking."

Kari at last snapped out of the daze she had fallen into. "No mom," she replied. "I was just thinking, that's all."

"Something wrong at school, kiddo?" her father asked.

Kari stirred her rice bowl with her chopsticks. "Sorta..." she replied evasively.

"You want to talk about it?"

Kari thought silently for a moment before she responded. "Not really. Its not a big deal. Really. Forget about it."

"Alright, Kari. If you say so." Her mother said, not sounding totally convinced, but let it drop anyway.

After dinner, Kari went straight to her room on the excuse that she wanted to start on her homework for the weekend, hoping it would gain her some privacy. She sat at her desk and took out her textbooks, but even though she pored over them, she got very little in the way of work done. Her mind was so preoccupied with her other dilemma that she could hardly concentrate on much of anything else.

She was brought out of her daydreams by the sound of a knock on her door. "Kari, it's me," her mother's voice said from the other side. "May I come in, please? I want to talk to you about something."

"Sure mom." Kari replied, "Come on in."

Mrs. Kamiya entered and sat on the bed as Kari turned her chair to face her. "I know you probably didn't want to talk about your problem with your brother and your father listening like that, Kari. I thought I'd come in and see if you felt like talking about it with me, woman to woman."

"Like I said, it's nothing, mom." Kari insisted.

"Is it a boy?" her mother ventured, ignoring Kari's statement as if had never been said.

'_Am I really so transparent?_' Kari wondered. This made twice in the same day! She sighed. "How'd you guess?"

Mrs. Kayima smiled. "Though it might be hard to believe, Kari, I _was_ your age, once. I'm quite familiar with the signs. So... what's he like?"

Kari groaned internally. She felt a bit awkward discussing this with her mother, but it was unlikely she could get away with doing otherwise. "He's ... nice." Kari replied, still not giving up hope that she would be able to evade her mother's questions.

"Oh reeeaaaallly. Nice huh?" Her mother teased. "Is he cute?"

The question immediately brought to mind the images of TK's straw blond hair and sapphire blue eyes. "Yeah, he's cute..." Kari replied, "but that's not the only reason I like him..."

"Oooh, it sounds like this could be more than just a simple crush, dear." Her mother said, smile still growing.

'_A simple crush?!_' Kari was shocked at the suggestion. She already _knew_ that her feelings for TK ran _way_ deeper than a girlish _crush_. "It might be, mom." Kari replied.

"So..." her mother continued. "Besides the fact that he's cute, what else do you like about him?"

Kari sighed and leaned back in her chair. The awkwardness was quickly fading. "I like that he's kind and gentle with everyone, even those people I know he doesn't like that much. When he smiles at me, he seems to smiling at me and me alone, and it makes me feel warm and safe inside for some reason. He always seems to know what to say to cheer me up when I'm feeling down. He's always willing to listen to any problems I have, and tries to help even when I don't think even he can."

Mrs. Kayima studied her daughter critically for a moment before speaking again. "Oh my..." She said. 

Kari looked up at her mother in alarm. "What is it?"

"It sounds like you _really _like this boy, Kari." Mrs. Kayima replied gravely. "And it sounds to me that its very possible that he likes you too. Have you asked him about that, yet?"

Kari sighed again. "I've tried... but it seems he's not exactly comfortable talking about relationships and stuff like that and..."

"So you haven't been able to find out exactly how he feels towards you." Her mother finished for her. "I think I'm beginning to see the problem. Do you know why he feels so uncomfortable?"

"It... It seems as though a... a barrier goes up every time he gets close to saying anything about it." Kari said, at last confiding in her mother.

Mrs. Kayima nodded sagely. "An emotional barrier, huh? Boys do tend to get pretty big ones at times."

Kari took a breath in preparation for the next question she was going to ask. "So... how do you break through an emotional barrier, mother?"

Mrs. Kayima smiled at her daughter. "The thing you have to remember, dear, is that everyone has emotional barriers that they put up, consciously or otherwise. It's part of being human. The only way to lower them that I know of is never an easy thing to do."

"What is it?" Kari asked, excited that her mother might have the answer to her problem with TK.

Mrs. Kayima took in a deep breath and exhaled it in the form of a sigh. "The only _real_ way to get past someone's emotional walls are to lower _your own_ to them, first. It requires you to be completely honest and open with them, and success is in no way guaranteed."

"But..." Kari started, but realized she didn't know what she could possibly say.

"I said it wasn't easy, Kari, but it is the only way that I know how." Mrs. Kayima said. Seeing the dejected look on her daughter's face, she felt the need to add something more. "Kari... you mentioned that you thought he was a gentle person. If you truly believe that, you should already know that he wouldn't do something to hurt you. You could do nothing, and things would likely stay the same as they are now. But what about if someone else goes and does what I said, and manages to bring down his emotional walls and get inside. How would you feel then?"

Kari thought about it. '_TK... with someone else?_' The thought gave her a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. '_It would hurt, but as long he was happy... I...._' she felt her eyes begin to water, the pain at just thinking that it would be someone else making him happy being more than she had ever imagined.

Mrs. Kamiya noticed how sad her daughter had looked at the suggestion. '_She **really** must like this boy._' she thought to herself. "Don't look so upset dear, it hasn't happened yet, has it? You still have some time to prepare if you want to do what I suggested. Just don't wait too long." She got off the bed and gave Kari a hug, making Kari feel a bit better and taking her worry away. 

'_Tomorrow..._' Kari thought to herself. '_Tomorrow, I 'll do it. I don't want to risk waiting any longer than that._'

"Thanks for the talk, mom." she said as her mother turned. "I think I know what I'm going to do now."

Mrs. Kayima smiled approvingly at her daughter. "I'm glad I could help dear." she said, and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Shoving her textbooks farther back on her desk, she got up and made her way over to her bed. After changing into her bedclothes and turning off the light, she slipped into bed and stared at the ceiling. '_How am I going to be completely open and honest with him?_' she asked herself.

'_Tell him how you feel about him_' the voice inside her said. '_Tell him what he means to you._'

'_Right._' Kari thought, agreeing with the anonymous voice 'It shouldn't be so hard. Besides, I trust TK. He'd never hurt me. Ever.'

She rolled over onto her side. "Tomorrow..." She whispered closing her eyes.

Tomorrow.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Any good? Puck slipped out for a little while and got in here somehow, so please excuse the angst he put poor Kari through. We're working on better ways to restrain him so he doesn't interfere with our writing as much. Though, his additions seem to make the story a little more interesting, so we decided to leave them in.

This fic was originally posted as just a test piece, being my first ever submitted to FF.net, since my main project, Mind Games wasn't ready for posting yet (still isn't either, though its over 100kb already). It was of my many projects, the farthest along, but had not been worked on for nearly six months(!) But the day I signed up for my account I just couldn't stand to leave it so empty looking. In all honesty, we thought we'd never have the urge to finish it. Due to the positive feedback though, we've taken it up once again. 

One more final thing. Please excuse how long it takes for us to get these out, but when on a time-sharing basis with a physical body, its not easy to crank these things out. -sigh-

Hope you had a pleasant time, and don't worry, there is some more coming in the future, as long as you reader's are somewhat patient with me. 


	3. morning rituals

We'd like to inform the reading public that Puck is now AWOL and running amok in our writing endeavors. Please, be on the look-out for signs of excessive character angst and confusion, the telltale marks that he's tampered with things. Though he's normally loud-mouthed and obnoxious, Puck can be very subtle when it suits him, and could have easily influenced our thought patterns (It _is_ rather crowded in here, after all) as we were working on this chapter.****

  
  


**The Whisperings of Two Hearts**

_(also known as)_

**A Takari Psychosis**

The Third Part

  
  
  
  


Kari, in Gatomon's opinion, was a delightful person to sleep next to, normally. But tonight was not a normal night for Kari.

Gatomon watched helplessly as her beloved human tossed and turned in her sleep. She'd tried to wake Kari up, but the gentler conventional methods had proven unsuccessful, and she could not bring herself to take more drastic measures and deny Kari her sleep. '_Even when she has nightmares, it isn't normally this bad..._' the digi-feline thought, worriedly. '_What's gotten her so upset?_'

Kari began to mutter something in her sleep, causing Gatomon to perk her ears in order to better hear what her friend was saying.

"TK..." Kari murmured.

'_TK?_' Gatomon wondered, quite surprised. '_What about TK?'_

* * * * *

TK bolted upright in bed, gasping desperately for air while trembling uncontrollably. His bedclothes were thoroughly soaked with cooling perspiration, and his entire body was severely entangled with the sheets.

The Dreams had visited again tonight.

Immediately, TK tried to catch the feeling fragments of the dream, trying as hard as he could to catch more than just flitting images and sensations, hoping tonight he might be the night he'd receive some key clue as to what the dreams meant and why they woke him in such a state.

_The soft sound of Kari breathing as she slept peacefully in his arms... the warmth he felt while holding her... the feel of the silk-smooth skin of her shoulders as he embraced her tightly... her silvery laughter coming from both her mouth and eyes as they shared a joke over a picnic... the feeling he'd had when he told her...when he told her that... that he _loved_ her..._

The last fragment startled him. "Do I?" he asked himself aloud, his voice rasping dryly amongst the silence of the dark bedroom.

'_You can't!_' screamed a voice within him. '_Do you want to lose her forever? Stay away from such thoughts!_'

'_You can't deny you care very deeply for her, TK._' another voice said calmly, drowning out the screams of the other. '_You already love her as a close friend does another. Is it not possible, then, that you love her in other ways as well?_'

"I... I guess... " TK answered. "...maybe."

The voices vanished, and TK realized that he'd gotten so sidetracked that he'd lost everything else from the dream. Cursing himself he looked out his bedroom window. The sky was turning to the pale grey of early morning. '_I need to clear my head._' he thought as he untangled himself from the bed sheets.

Changing into his jogging clothes, which consisted of one of Matt's old sweatshirts, a rather careworn pair of sweat pants and a pair of rather ratty sneakers, TK grabbed his house key and quietly left the apartment.

The second his feet hit the street, they were running. He immediately settled into the familiar stride that was used in all of his morning jogs. His breathing automatically became a rhythmic pattern matching the beat of his feet hitting upon the concrete. All conscious thought fled as his entire mind became focused on the rhythm that resounded in every inch of his body.

TK didn't pay particular attention to where he was going. Nor did he take notice of how much time had passed since he began. TK merely ran for the sake of running.

He felt his body beginning to reach its limit, yet he struggled to keep the rhythm from collapsing as long as he could. His lungs burned from the cool morning air rushing in and out of them and his muscles protested the continued abuse. It all served to tell him one thing: "_You are alive_."

Not wanting to overextend himself too much, TK at last slowed to a stop. No longer focused on the single-minded task of running, he took in his surroundings. When he realized where he was, he couldn't help but laugh softly to himself.

'_And here I'd thought I was running to get _away_ from my problems_.' TK thought to himself, sardonically. '_Instead, I end up going straight to their source..._' He was now standing in front of the very apartment complex that Kari Kayima called home. Though he'd thought that his pattern of turns had been decided at random, apparently, though, his subconscious had still somehow steered him here.

"It _always_ comes back to her, doesn't it..." he sighed as he smiled weakly. After gazing thoughtfully at the building a few moments, he began to walk in the direction of home.

'_I know that I...that I have... strong feelings for her._' TK admitted mentally. '_But could she feel the same way about me that I do about her? How can I possibly find out the truth?_'

Autumn leaves crunching beneath his feet, TK began to lengthen his stride. '_There's only one way to find out for sure... and it's simply just asking her about it._' 

'_What if she says no? _' asked a snide voice inside his head. '_What if she thinks of you as a friend and nothing more? Things would never be the same between you two; once that door is opened, it cannot be shut again. Is finding out the truth really worth losing a friend over?_' 

'_Is she really just a friend to you, though, TK?_' another voice within him asked in argument with the first. '_Is that all you really _want_ her to be?_'

'_Yes.. No... I... I'm not sure..._' TK replied to the warring forces churning within him. 

'_What _do_ you want, TK?_' both the voices asked him simultaneously.

'_I..._' TK was shocked by the question and was unsure how to respond. '_I... I don't want to lose Kari.._'

'_But what do you _want_?_' The voices demanded at the same time, not at all satisfied with his answer.

Every image, every sensation he'd managed to capture from the dreams he'd had replayed in his mind. '_Is... is this what I really want?_' He wondered. 

No sooner than he had asked himself that, another thought came to mind; this one being of Kari leaving his life almost completely. It deeply frightened him.

'_It is the risk you take, if you should decide to try and discover the truth._' one of the voices told him. '_The images are of the possible the rewards for the truth's discovery. Do you want to run the risk in order to discover if these images are part of the truth?_' 

The voices vanished once again into void which had spawned them, leaving the TK alone with his thoughts. '_Do... Do I want to find... the truth?_' 

* * * * *

Kari awoke exhausted and blurry-eyed. Her dreams had been anything _but_ pleasant, and left her feeling much worse than she had before she had gone to sleep. 

She tried to recall the scenes and images that had so haunted her slumber. She remembered seeing TK and calling out to him. He'd turned and saw her. Flashing her that smile he only seemed to give to her alone, he'd begun to walk towards her... only to suddenly stop, as if he had run into a wall or something. Puzzled, she began to walk towards him, to see what was wrong... only to run into an invisible wall herself, a few mere feet from TK had. If TK took a step back, the wall seemed to relocate so Kari could move just that much forward, and vice-versa. No matter what they tried, they just couldn't find a way to get closer to one another.

Suddenly, TK called out her name, as some unseen force started to try and drag him away from her. She knew she _had_ to get to him, or she might never see him again. As TK fought against being taken away, Kari desperately searched for a way to bypass the barrier between them. She noticed TK's voice growing fainter as he was pulled further and further away. Looking up, she saw that he had almost reached the dark aperture that had appeared in the distance, and she still couldn't any closer than when the force started pulling TK away.

"TK!" she remembered crying as she beat upon the invisible wall as hard as she could, trying desperately to break through. TK began disappearing into the dark vortex...

Kari shuddered, not caring to remember anything further. '_It was only a bad dream,_' she told herself silently, '_Nothing like that could ever really happen._'

Could it?

"G'morning Kari..." yawned a white ball of fur on the foot of her bed.

Kari frowned. Normally Gatomon slept snuggled up right next to her. Why was she now all the way down there?

"You feeling alright, Kari?" Gatomon asked as she started her routine morning cat-stretches. "It looked like you were having a nightmare last night, the way you were tossing and turning in bed. I tried waking you, but you just wouldn't wake up, no matter what I tried."

"I'm fine, Gatomon," Kari assured her friend as she got out of bed. "It was only a nightmare."

"You want to talk about it?" Gatomon asked.

Kari shook her head. "No, I'd really rather just forget about it."

"Sure." Gatomon said, jumping off the bed and gracefully landing on the floor. "By the way.... how's TK?"

Kari choked from shock while in mid-yawn, creating a rather hilarious bout of coughs and hiccups, which in turn caused her to trip over her own two feet and go sprawling to the floor. Gatomon struggled to remain serious, but the whole thing was just too much for her to handle and she burst out in a fit of laughter.

"It wasn't _that_ funny, Gatomon..." Kari said, still on the floor.

Gatomon was laughing so hard that her eyes had begun to water. "I'm... I'm sorry...Kari..." She panted, trying to get control of herself and regain her wind. "It's just... It's just that... I've never seen anyone... do something... like _that_ before."

"Well, I'm glad you found it so amusing, Gatomon." Kari grumbled as she got beck to her feet.

"So..." Gatomon continued, pointedly ignoring her grumbling, "How is he?"

Kari felt a slight blush beginning to color her cheeks. "W-What makes you ask that?" she asked, trying hard not to stammer. She turned her back to Gatomon, using the pretense of searching her closet for a weekend outfit.

"You called his name out in your sleep." Gatomon explained.

Kari's blush flared furiously upon hearing this. "So?" 

She could feel Gatomon's teasing grin, even with her head half buried in her closet. "Is there something going on that you haven't told me about?" Gatomon asked.

"No..." Kari replied. "You know how I feel about TK better than anyone."

"What was he doing in your nightmare then?" 

Kari sighed as her eyes cast towards the ground. "Mom... raised a rather... upsetting scenario when I talked with her about him, yesterday."

"Which was..?"Gatomon pushed, urging her to elaborate.

"It... it involved TK being taken by another girl." Kari felt a dull ache in her chest as she said the words. 

"And that bothers you." Gatomon replied, sounding for all the world like a rather annoying psychotherapist.

"Yes, it bothers me!" Kari snapped as she turned around, suddenly feeling quite waspish. 

Gatomon's face was unreadable, even for a cat's, save for her eyes... which showed just the barest hints of compassion. Kari immediately felt bad over losing her temper like that. "I'm sorry," she apologized quickly, "it's just that...well..." She sighed heavily, unable to think of what to say next.

"Kari," Gatomon started, "I'm quite positive that he cares a lot about you, too. Why are you worried about him becoming interested in another girl?"

"I... I don't know, Gatomon." Kari replied. "I've just got this horrible feeling that I can't quite understand..."

Gatomon sighed. "Kari, you worry _way_ too much for someone your age."

Kari smiled weakly. "I'm not exactly typical, though, am I?"

Gatomon smiled. "You could never be just 'typical' in anything, Kari."

* * * * *

TK had taken his time walking home from his morning run, and by the time he'd returned home, he was quite relaxed in both body and mind. It was a beautiful autumn morning, the kind of morning that makes worries, sorrows, and troubles easily forgotten as you feel that nothing could possibly go wrong the rest of the day.

Mere seconds after walking through the apartment door, TK was in the shower, singing happily as he cleansed himself from the results of his earlier physical exertion. Feeling renewed, TK threw his jogging clothes in the laundry hamper and set out to find something to eat.

He found his mother sitting at the dining table, nursing her morning cup of coffee. "Good morning, TK." she greeted him.

"G'morning mom." he returned as he put two pieces of bread in the toaster and pushing down the lever. Finishing that, he went and sat down across the table from his mother to wait as the bread was mystically transmuted into toast. 

"Thinking of starting your own band?" his mother asked with a half-smile.

Though he liked music, he'd never had Matt's natural talent, thus decided to pursue other ventures where he felt he wouldn't have to compare with his older brother. So, naturally, his mother's question confused him. "Huh?"

"Well," his mother explained with the same half smile, "I _thought_ I heard you practicing earlier."

TK's cheeks colored slightly. "Sorry..."

His mother laughed warmly and smiled at him. "Don't be so embarrassed, TK, it honestly wasn't that bad. I'm just glad you didn't inherit your father's singing voice."

"Dad sings?" TK asked, surprised at hearing her mother mention his father like that.

His mother's smile seemed to reflect a feeling of... _fondness_? Perhaps he was mistaken.

"Kind of. He'd go looking for the notes, but it sounded as if he'd forgotten where he put them. He sang me a love song once, while we were dating. I thought it was incredibly romantic of him, the neighborhood pets voiced _their_ approval as well as they sang along with him." 

TK laughed at the thought of his father singing a sappy love song while cats and dogs played the role of backup singers. This was the first time his mother had talked this way about his father in a long time. It gave new strength to TK's glimmer of hope that one day his family might be whole again.

The toaster popped, sending the two pieces of toast airborne. One piece landed on the waiting plate TK had set out on the counter, as the other was suddenly intercepted by a speeding Patamon, who had seemingly materialized out of nowhere.

"I'll never understand how the two of you manage to coordinate that so well _every morning_ without one piece having ever hit the floor." His mother sighed as she shook her head in wonder at the daily toast ritual. 

TK and Patamon both grinned mischievously at her, earning them a roll of the eyes. They both knew how it exasperated her... it was their very reason for doing it, _besides_ the fact it simply looked cool.

Finishing breakfast, TK set out to work on his homework for the weekend. He'd barely gotten started though, when he heard the phone ring and his mother answer it.

"TK," she called, moments later, "There's a young lady on the telephone asking for you."

* * * * *

Kari paced back and forth in her room, her phone sitting on her desk. After eating she had set to planning how she could possibly TK what she really felt for him. After an hour Gatomon suggested that she just call him and arrange a meeting with him for later so she'd have until then to work everything out. It was an effort to keep Kari from driving herself insane, but had instead caused her to start wearing a hole in the floor. 

"For the last time, Kari, just call him already!" Gatomon said, frustrated with her human friend's behavior.

Kari, for the fifth time, stopped her pacing and picked the phone up. Hands trembling, she slowly began to dial the phone number...

And froze after she entered the fifth digit. Her hand now refused to move to enter the final two numbers.

'_You can do this Kari._' a voice within her urged, '_Don't give up. Take a deep breath and keep going._' 

'_I can do this._'Kari told herself taking a deep breath. She somehow managed to input the final pair of digits in.

'_That's finished... but why do I feel sorta dizzy?_' Kari wondered.

'You forgot to exhale.' the voice chimed helpfully.

Returning to a normal breathing pattern, she began to pray to any divinity that might possibly be listening. '_Please let him answer the phone... please let him have the afternoon free... please let me be able to do this..._' she reverently begged as she brought the phone up to her ear. 

She had _expected_ to hear TK's voice, or maybe his mother's, or even Matt's small though the chance might be. She tried not to think about what she'd say if she got the answering machine. She had to ask this of him herself, not wait for some machine to ask him to call her at some later time.

She had _not_ expected what she now heard coming from the phone, sounding loud and clear to dispel any doubt of its meaning.

It was the sound of a busy signal.

  
  
  
  
  
  


We're sorry we have to leave it off here. We honestly didn't for this to happen, but we wanted to post one more chapter before we leave on vacation for a week. This was as far as we were able to get after three very long sleepless nights of working on it. Not even Puck would be this cruel on purpose(we think). We'll be working on writing out chapter four the low-tech way (pencil and notebook) on the drive there _and_ back so we'll only have to type it up on Friday night so we'll be able to release it early Saturday morning (if we don't edit it too much and things go well, we should be finished by four or five a.m.).

Since Miss Mew asked about _Mind Games_, we thought we'd spend a little time to tell about it. Its on Neon Genesis Evangelion, one of our all time favorite series (even Puck loves it!), and before you start ranting about how messed up / perverted the whole thing was because of the End of Evangelion movie for those of you who know what I'm talking about, when I said _series_, I meant _series_. I haven't been able to see the movie yet and I'm not quite sure I want to.

Anyway, about the fic. It involves another romance story(at least it started out as one, it sorta took on a mind of its own and has spun into all sorts of directions I hadn't originally intended). The romance isn't as key as it is to this piece, being that it has taken a much longer time to develop it. 

To summarize it for those of you who might be familiar with the characters, Shinji mysteriously gets a slight attitude adjustment and tries to get under Asuka's skin and inside her head... which happens quite literally.

Wow! You actually listened through that? Will wonders never cease... a few more small things. For those of you reviewed this work and left an email address, we sent you each a personal notice and thank you for your reviews mere minutes after posting the second chapter. We're thinking of continuing to do this, unless you don't want us to and so inform us, each time we post a chapter. If you don't want me to email you, simply send the flaming letters of threats, insults, and detailed descriptions of what you _really_ think of us(have fun and be creative!) to [dnd02000@yahoo.com.][1] If you'd like me to inform you when a new chapter comes out via email, just send it to the same address and ask for such in as few or as many words as you like.

Are you still reading this? Well... thanks. We're really touched, but you probably could find something else more enjoyable to do without too much difficulty. So... thanks for reading and we'll talk to you again in about a week.

   [1]: mailto:dnd02000@yahoo.com.



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